Well we know that there isn't going to be a draft, right? I mean aside from the backdoor one that is keeping the volunteers on duty well after their terms have expired. The President has said so. The Vice President has said so. Any number of Republican leaders have assured us in no uncertain terms there will be no draft.

And assuming you believe them... what does that mean for the all volunteer army already stretched to its limits and not meeting its recruitment numbers? Can we continue with operations under these circumstances? The Administration has made clear that pulling out of Iraq is not an option. The military command has made clear that to succeed our commitment in Iraq will stretch upwards of two years of occupation.

I love Air America. Al Franken is as dry as toast. He's not a very good radio announcer but he's still saying things that I wish more people were saying. I wish more people were saying "Did you know if a soldier is wounded and dies in a hospital away from combat he's not counted as an official casualty?" Which means nobody in the States really knows how many soldiers have died over there.

Maybe he'll grow into the position with time. I've got my fingers crossed.

So what's going on in the World of note...
I notice that the Bush administration has quietly stopped using the phrase "the roadmap to peace" with regards to the MiddleEast. A quiet admission that their policy has been a complete failure. As sympathetic as I am to the idea of a Palestinian state and as much as I view the policies of Israel as inflamatory and unwise when it comes to settlements and the Berlin Wall v2.0, I am slowly coming around to the idea that what really needs to be done is kill all the Hamas members. So here's my suggestion... stop shooting missles at cars. It's not very precise. It causes 'collatoral damage'. It is wildly unpopular with the foreign press. Instead, wait for the Hamas spokesperson to come before the cameras and then shoot them. When they send out another spokesman to decry the death of the first, shoot that one too. Continue until they stop sending out spokespeople.

How hard can it be to find these leaders? They are always in front of cameras giving interviews.

At the same time divert some of the millions and millions of dollars that the United States is giving you toward better housing and healthcare for Palestinians. Stop bulldozing down their houses. The tank on the streetcorner isn't doing anything to make anybody safer. Iron fist. Velvet glove. They've got the iron fist part down. They need to start making with the glove.

I suppose propaganda of this sort has to be excused. It must be hard to try and boost public support for the war in Iraq when those pesky facts keep getting in the way. Just waiting for them to trot out the happy smiling children waving American flags.

And much like the Wizard of Oz... pay no attention to the dead soldiers behind the curtain.

UPDATE: According to ABC the form letter from home was actually written by the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Dominic Caraccilo. One soldier, who asked not to be identified, said he was reluctant to sign the letter because he did not agree with the comments in the letter but said he was ordered by a superior officer to sign. More info on the incident available here.